The Butterfly Effect: Wrong Turn 3
by Jack E. Peace
Summary: A sequel to my "Dance with the Devil" story. Jessie has to rescue Chris, before it's too late and get her own revenge against the men that killed her friends and sister. (SUSPENDED until further notice)
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: None of the characters from _Wrong Turn _belong to me, but the other characters do. 

A/N: So, here's the promised sequel to "Dance with the Devil"; I'm so happy with all the reviews that I got for the first story, so make sure to keep the reviews coming, it feeds my muse. As for the title, the "Butterfly Effect" isn't just a really great movie that just came out but also part of the Chaos Theory. It states: "Does something as insignificant as a butterfly flapping it's wings in Brazil cause a tornado in Texas?", which basically means that every action has a counter action, ever cause has an effect, you get the picture. So, enjoy, review, keep plugging for that _Wrong Turn _category. 

Chapter One 

Jessie Burlingame, who forty-eight hours ago was preparing to eat sushi with her prince charming and boyfriend, stood in the middle of the West Virginia backwoods and stared at the empty area in front of her. Well, empty aside from the collection of trees and the two corpses of people that her little sister had once known. The sun was setting in the horizon, bringing dusk to the woods once more, but she didn't really seem to notice the growing darkness, too wrapped up in her own thoughts and growing fears. 

Though it seemed like only minutes ago, that morning, Jessie had seen her sister murdered right in front of her and had been knocked unconscious by the murderer, only to have awakened to find Sadie's corpse gone, as well as to find that her boyfriend was also missing. With a sigh, she dropped to her feet and leaned against the trunk of the tree that had knocked her out all those hours ago and buried her head in her hands, trying to organize her thoughts and make sense of what had happened. The three murderous hillbillies had obvious taken Chris Flynn and she only prayed that he was still alive, unlike her sister, who's corpse they had taken as well. 

Tears stung her eyes as she thought about how things were turning out much like they had months ago when she had first gotten lost in these woods with her best friends and Chris; only she and Chris had made it out alive, and it was beginning to look like this time he wouldn't be so lucky. _Stop it. _Jessie commanded herself firmly. _Don't think like that, of course Chris is alive, he's going to be all right. _

However, that was what she had thought about Sadie all those long hours of trekking through the woods to look for her sister and look what had happened to her. Jessie got to her feet, trying to force the image of Sadie's headless corpse out of her mind. Chris wasn't Sadie, so there was no way to say that he was going to end up like her. "And if you keep thinking like that," she mumbled out loud, "you might as well give up right now." 

It wasn't as though Jessie actually had a plan of action, but she did know that the plan, when it evolved, would include finding Chris and rescuing him before he _did _end up like Sadie, Carly and all the other victims. So, she might as well start there, start with trying to find Chris; she, however, had no idea where to start her search. Months ago, she and Chris had burned down the redneck's cabin and she had no idea where they had relocated to, which meant that she had no idea where they were keeping Chris. 

One thing Jessie was certain of was that she hadn't passed their new residence up until this point so there was no sense in backtracking. She would continue heading straight, and with that thought in mind, she started walking, heedless of her throbbing legs and head and of the falling darkness. 

* * * 

Chris wondered, at first, whether or not Jessie was all right. He hadn't had a chance to check on her after she had been thrown aside by the disfigured man that had murdered Sadie Burlingame; he had rushed to help his girlfriend and had been, in turn, been knocked unconscious as well. Now here he was, worrying about Jessie's safety when he would be smarter to worry about his own; he had woken only what he had roughly estimated to be an hour ago to find himself tied down with rusted barbed wire to a bed frame. He was alone, aside from the decapitated corpse of Jessie's younger sister, and wondered where the murderers had vanished off to. 

Not that that fact really weighed heavy in Chris' mind; with them gone, he could possibly look for a way to escape, a way to free himself from his binds. He was currently looking for anything to keep from staring at Sadie's corpse, her head resting in her lap with sightless eyes staring past him; he was also trying to keep his mind off Jessie, who hadn't appeared to be in very good shape after being knocked against the trunk. She had struck her head soundly and crumpled to the ground, and thinking about her being possibly dead or mortally wounded with no help in sight made Chris' heart begin to beat much quicker. 

He pulled against the barbed wire, quickly deciding that wasn't the wisest idea since the barbs cut into his skin; he'd have to find another way to escape and get to Jessie. 

* * * 

As Jessie wondered in the woods, she realized just how hungry and thirsty she really was; her hands were beginning to shake and her throat was dry and scratching. She couldn't go on for much longer unless she got something to drink and something to eat; however, she didn't expect there to be a McDonalds' in the middle of the woods so she wasn't quite sure just how to she was going to fulfill her goal. It was so dark that she couldn't see her shivering hand in front of her face, let alone find something to ear -berries perhaps?- or anywhere to drink from. 

With a suppressed sob, she dropped to the ground and buried her face in her dirty, quivering hands, realizing for the first time that she would probably die or dehydration and starvation before she found Chris. She would never be able to save Chris, he would die because of her, because she didn't have the strength to rescue him. Jessie drew her knees up to her chin and rested her forehead against her knees, trying to pull herself together, taking deep breathes to keep from hyperventilating. 

The sound of brush cracking underfoot and mangled grunts caused her to jerk her head up suddenly, muscles tensing as her breath caught in her throat. There was no mistaking the noises she was hearing, the animal-like noises that were made by the inbreeds, sounds she had become very familiar with. Jessie forced herself to her feet and scrambled toward the nearest tree, which would provide some sort of shelter in the dark, if the mountain men passed her way. 

Suddenly, it occurred to Jessie that these disfigured rednecks could led her back to where they had taken Chris. For a moment, she forgot about just how hungry and thirsty she was, filling with a strange sort of hope that was only muddled by the knowledge that Chris might already be dead. 

Jessie peered out from behind the tree and watched the men, who appeared to be squabbling about something in their strange language. Finally, the largest man, the one that had killed Sadie, cuffed the skinny one and turned back the way they had came, grunting something that made the others follow after him. She waited a moment before emerging from her hiding spot, being careful to watch where she was stepping so that she didn't give the men any indication that they were being followed. Jessie wished she had some sort of weapon to defend herself with, provided they did turn around and see her, but there was nothing around that would provide ample protection. She was on her own, unprotected, unhidden, yet she wasn't afraid. 


	2. Chapter Two

Okay, sorry it's taking so long to post, here's a treat, another chapter right away. For those of you who have the _Wrong Turn _DVD, please do yourself a favor and watch the commentary. It's the goddamn funniest thing I have ever heard in my life! I'm watching it right now for the first time, it's so hilarious! Okay, anyway, here's another chapter, enjoy and review. 

Chapter Two 

Chris stopped searching around for a way to escape when he heard the grunts that signaled the approach of his captors. His heartbeat began to speed up as images flashed through his head of what they might do to him when they arrived; judging by what they had done to Sadie and the others, he wasn't so sure that he would make it through the night. 

The door creaked open, looking dangerously close to toppling off its hinges, and the man that had decapitated Sadie entered first, not bothering to glance at the chained up captive. Chris stared at them for a moment before turning his head away and studying his binds again; regardless of whether or not he could escape, he couldn't do anything while the mountain men were around. 

Grunting to each other, the men moved around the cabin, ignoring Chris as he lay on the floor. It was very obvious to him that they were simply saving him for later. 

* * * 

Jessie poked her head out from the cover of the bush she was hiding in and watched the skinny man scamper into the house and slam the door shut behind him. She was nervous all of the sudden, her heart pounding in her chest as she prayed that Chris was still alive inside of that ratty cabin and that, to rescue him, she would have to have a plan. The men would kill her on sight, she would have to wait until they vanished into the woods once again, though she had no idea how long that would be. 

_Plan, okay, you need a plan Jessie, _she reminded herself as she studied the house, trying to figure out the best way to get inside. If she managed to wait until the men left the house again, she would simply go through the front door, rescue Chris and get the hell out of Dodge. But, there was no guarantee just how long she could wait, wait to see if Chris was alright, to see if she was still alive. 

She didn't have a weapon, or any way to defend herself, so there was no way that she would be able to came crashing into the house, take out the murderers and rescue Chris. Jessie settled back into her hiding hole, taking a deep breath and slowing her heart. She would have to wait, biding her time. 

* * * 

It was deep night by the time the archer crossed over to Chris, studying him intently; Chris turned his head away, pointedly ignoring the man's stare. The man grabbed his chin roughly and whipped his head around so quickly that Chris was certain that he heard his jaw crack in the process. Flashes of pain blossomed in front of his eyes and he attempted to grit his teeth against the pain, which only managed to increase it. 

The bulky man released his grip and stood once more, retreating toward the other side of the room, where he grunted toward the skinny brother, who began chuckling inanely. Chris was certain that the grunts and laughter didn't spell out anything good for him. His fears were confirmed when the skinny man skipped toward the corner of the room where Sadie's corpse had begun to decompose, and gathered his twin, jagged knives. 

Chris squinted his eyes shut as tightly as possible when he felt the rusted knives cut through the dirty fabric of his shirt and slice into his skin. As the blades continued to penetrate deeper, he couldn't help but let a scream escape from his dislocated jaw. 

* * * 

Jessie's head popped up from where it had been resting against her knees when she heard a scream that was unmistakably Chris'. Her heart began to beat against her chest as she peered out from beneath the foliage, though, in the dark, she could barely see anything. It didn't matter whether she could see or not because she knew that she had to rescue Chris now, before they did manage to kill her boyfriend. 

But with the murderous mountain men still inside the cabin, she would need to rethink her plan. Jessie realized that she would need a distraction, and she would need it fast. 


	3. Chapter Three

Thanks for the reviews so far, glad to see I'm not the only one who watches the commentary. I like the part where Eliza talks about the camera catching a "crack shot" and Desmond is like "No, they didn't get your crack, but they got your fat ass." I thought that was so funny. Okay, anyway, thanks for the reviews! 

Chapter Three 

Jessie poked around the base of the tree trunks in the surrounding woods, gathering up rocks, pinecones and anything else she could use to create a distraction to get the mountain men out of the house so she could rescue Chris. So far, she only had a handful of soggy pinecones that didn't look like they'd create much of a distraction when thrown against anything. The rest of her plan certainly wasn't masterful (more like something out of _The Three Stooges _cartoon) but it involved throwing rocks against the windows of the cabin, getting the men out long enough for her to snatch Chris and for them to get away. 

Gathering rocks and other ammunition was taking longer then she thought, which was something that was slowly worrying Jessie. Chris had stopped screaming, which meant one of three things: the rednecks had stopped torturing him -or whatever they were doing, he had passed out, or he was dead. She wasn't going to allow herself to think that the latter was the correct, though it seemed much more likely. Despite this knowledge, Jessie didn't stop in her search for rocks, continuing to poke around beneath the pine needles. She was going to rescue Chris, that was all she needed to know. 

* * * 

Chris felt as though he had been tied to the back of a truck and driven across a mile long stretch of smoldering ashes. His nerves felt frayed, overloaded with pain; his chest was slick with blood and his entire body was covered in knife wounds. He was surprised when the skinny one had finally seemed to get bored of knifing him and had gone off elsewhere in the cabin, leaving him bleeding on the cabin floor, dazed and surely seconds away from passing out. 

He pressed his hand to his chest, his fingers coming away sticky with blood, which made him wince. Chris had never been a pessimist but he was becoming one now; he knew he was going to bleed to death unless he got help, which was something that was surely impossible. No one knew where he was, no one would be searching for him. No one could help him. 

* * * 

Jessie had finally given up her search for missiles to throw at the cabin windows and decided to make due with what she had. What she had were two soggy pinecones, one rock and a rather large branch that she figured was her best bet in getting both herself and Chris out of the cabin alive. Wrapping her hand around the branch, she returned to her hiding spot in the bushes and tossed the rock at the window as hard as she could. Though she had never been one for sports that required accuracy, the rock hit the pane dead on, creating a dull thud. Jessie just hoped that the men were stupid enough to investigate whatever was knocking against their windows. 

* * * 

Chris glanced up when something hard hit the windowpane to his left, which also got the attention of his disfigured captures. The burly archer grunted as he whirled to face the noise, cocking his head with interest as he started toward the window. He tapped the glass at the same time another object struck it from the outside, this one not as heavy but making a solid thud before it fell to the ground. 

The archer turned and grunted to his companions, who grunted something in response; for a fleeting moment, Chris wondered just what they were saying but then decided that he really didn't care. Whatever they were saying certain got a rise out of the skinny one, who began laughing and scampering toward the window. 

The other two mountain men watched him with hesitation until something else hit against the window, which seemed to seal their decision to investigate. The bulky man lifted his blood-stained axe from its spot against the wall and led the way to the door, grunting roughly. 

Chris watched them vanish, wishing that he had the strength to care that he was alone. 

* * * 

Jessie felt her heart freeze when the trio of murderous hillbillies emerged from their cabin, heading over toward the window. Until that moment, she hadn't realized that she had no way of getting them _away _from the cabin, just _out _of it. What was she going to do now? They'd catch her if she tried to get into the cabin now, yet she had no idea how to create a clear opening for herself. 

The man that had killed Sadie turned in her direction and grunted something to the other two that followed him, gesturing toward the woods. Jessie felt her muscles tense and her grip on the branch grow tighter and as she faced the real possibility that she had been spotted. The trio of hillbillies headed away from the cabin and toward her, grunting quietly to each other. 

_This is it_, Jessie thought to herself, _do or die. _Her leg muscles tightened, preparing her for the possibility that she would suddenly have to leap to her feet and haul the club into the nearest murderer's face. She was ready, her breath was shallow, she had crossed the point of being afraid, of being hesitant. This was her only chance. She was ready. 

Needless to say, Jessie was more then surprised when all three of the inbreed murderers headed directly past her hiding spot and walked into the woods. Brow knitting, she turned to watch them disappearing into the forest, grunting to one another as they spread out, no doubt searching for whatever had knocked against their window. Jessie stared at them in shock for a moment before suddenly realizing that this was probably her only chance to rescue Chris. 

Springing to her feet, she kept a tight grip upon the branch and rushed toward the cabin, trying to be as quiet as possible. Glancing behind her quickly, Jessie nudged the door of the cabin open and peeked in before stepping inside; though she had seen Chris' captures leave the house, she had no idea what surprises still might lie inside. The cabin was more of a large room, with a few pieces of rickety furniture, a wood burning stove, and a rotted chest. 

Upon first glance, Jessie thought the cabin was empty, which sent her heart plunging down to her feet. However, peering into the dimness once more, she saw a mattress-less bed frame pressed against the farthest side of the room, with Chris bound to the posts with barbed wire. 

"Chris!" Jessie shouted, forgetting the circumstances for the moment, as she dropped her branch and rushed toward her boyfriend, who stirred slightly when she called his name. 

Jessie stepped over one of the bars of the frame and dropped to her knees beside Chris, tears of relief filling her eyes. He wasn't dead after all; however, judging by how slowly he turned to look at her and the blood that was dark but obvious on his shirt, he wasn't doing so well. She reached out to touch his cheek, relieved when his skin felt warm. 

"Jessie?" Chris muttered, as though he couldn't believe he was actually saying her name. "I thought you were dead." 

Eyes darting toward his bloody wrists, Jessie said, "Not quiet. How badly are you hurt?" She didn't really want to know, but she didn't know how far away from the hospital they were. She reached up to his wrists, the barbs cutting the pads of her fingers as she worked quickly to free her boyfriend. 

Chris sighed, his eyes never leaving Jessie. "Difficult to say, though I'd guess it's pretty bad." His right wrist dropped to the ground when she released it from the wire, and he could feel the blood begin to return to his fingers. 

Jessie was silent as she reached over him to get to his left wrist; she hoped that Chris wasn't hurt as bad as he looked, or thought. She had come too far to have him die before they got to a hospital. "We don't have much time." She said finally, wincing as one of the barbs stuck her. "We've gotta hurry." 

Chris nodded slowly, forcing himself to lean forward in an attempt to get to the wire holding his ankle. With his remaining wrist still bound, however, his reach fell short and he leaned back down. He watched the brunette free his left hand, thankful that she hadn't died in the woods like he had feared; she actually looked pretty kept together -though he knew Jessie's looks of composure were very deceiving- given the circumstances and he was thankful that it was too dark in the cabin for her to see her sister's corpse. 

A noise from outside the cabin caused Jessie to jump and look away from the barbed wire holding Chris' right ankle. There was no mistaking the grunts, even from inside the room. The murderers were back. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry it's taken so long to update, I have the flu, but I'm pulling myself together long enough to write. Thanks again for all the reviews, love you all! 


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four 

Jessie's heart frozen in her chest as the cabin door slowly creaked open; she remained motionless beside Chris, eyes wide with terror, unable to think. She could hear Chris whispering her name, telling her to hide, to get away, but she didn't register any of it, she was too frightened. _It's all over, _she thought to herself, staring in terror at the entrance to the cabin.

Chris leaned forward and hit Jessie as hard as he could on the shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise, finally startling her out of her stupor. "Jessie, you have to hide!" He hissed, more afraid for her then for himself. 

Chris' words finally shook Jessie lose of her terror and she scampered across the cabin on her hands and knees, pressing herself against the wall closest to the entrance as the door opened. The shadows did well to conceal her, for which Chris was thankful for; he could barely see her, so he doubted the disfigured, idiot rednecks would. Jessie clamped her teeth together to keep from breathing raggedly in her terror, eyes darting over toward the door, watching the murderers enter the cabin once more, grunting to each other. Her eyes fell past them, toward the floor, where the branch she had carried in with her lay just feet in front of her. 

Jessie's eyes drifted away from the branch, toward the hillbillies, who were heading over toward the wood-burning stove without even glancing at Chris, and finally to her boyfriend, who was slowly leaning forward to untangle the barbed wire around his ankles. Their eyes met and she knew that as soon as he freed himself, she would have to make her move, snatching up the club and doing what she had been planning on doing earlier, while she was hiding in the bushes. 

The skinny man turned away from the stove and headed toward the corner beside Chris, searching for something. Jessie watched him curiously, wondering just what the idiot was up to, nearly screaming in terror and anguish when she saw just what he was searching for. He bent low and picked up her sister's head by her hair, grunting something to his brothers as he carried the head toward them. Jessie's eyes filled with tears and pressed the heels of her hands against her teeth to keep from sobbing. 

The noise Jessie made when she raised her hands caused the man with Sadie's head to pause and glance her way. Their eyes locked and she knew, without a doubt, that he had seen her. The man dropped her sister's head and began grunting wildly to the others, who glanced over at him. Jessie didn't know what to do, now that she had been spotted; both she and Chris were going to die in this cabin. 

At the same moment the skinny man had spotted Jessie, Chris had managed to free himself from the barbed wire. "Hey assholes!" He shouted, taking the attention away from Jessie and to himself. 

Jessie leaped forward and snatched the branch, jumping to her feet and bringing the club down across the archer's head. Stunned, he stumbled forward, tripping into the bulky man, sending them both to the ground. Without wasting another moment, she struck the skinny man across the face with a cry of rage, hitting him once more when he fell to the ground. 

Chris stepped out of the bed frame and grabbed Jessie's arm. "C'mon Jess, we've gotta get the hell out of here." He commanded, pulling her toward the door. She tossed her club aside and following him out of the cabin, her heart beginning to pound in her chest. 

Not bothering to look back, Chris and Jessie dashed out of the cabin and heading the opposite way they had come, running as fast as they could in the dark, not bothering to be quiet or watch their footing. Chris finally stopped running, nearly tripping over a root as he slowly, the energy he had gotten from the adrenaline flowing through his body leaving him suddenly. 

Jessie stopped running when she noticed her boyfriend had stopped and walked over to him, her breath coming in hollow gasps. "Are you all right?" She panted, worry knitting across her face. 

Chris looked up at her, the reality of the situation finally setting in; they had both almost died again, he had almost lost her again. They had come face to face with death and come out on top. He pulled Jessie into a tight embrace, burying his face in her sweat matted hair. 

Jessie returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pressing her face against her chest. The tears that she had held back in the cabin suddenly filled her eyes once more and this time she made to move to keep them from trickling down her cheeks, making distinct lines in the dirt covering her skin. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Jessie pulled away from him and said, "I can't believe Sadie's really dead. I can't believe we're _not_." It seemed to hard to believe that they hadn't been killed, hadn't been caught; they had survived once again. 

Chris cupped his fingers around her cheek; he didn't really know what to say to her, wishing that he had some words of comfort that wouldn't ring hollow. Her baby sister was dead, after they had come so far to rescue her, after they _had _rescued her and, to make matters worse, she had been forced to see Sadie's corpse in the dirty hands of her killers. 

A few more minutes passed in silence before Chris said, "We'd better get moving, try and find a hospital." He gently touched the wounds upon his stomach, which were coated with blood that was flowing every so often.

Jessie glanced down at his chest, hoping that his injuries weren't as bad as they looked; she had no idea how far from a hospital they were, or if the disfigured murderers were going to pursue them once the aftermath of her and Chris' escape wore off. She really didn't want to stick around long enough to find out, however. Slipping her arm around Chris' waist, Jessie and her boyfriend started out through the woods once more, enjoying the quiet and the fact that they were still around to enjoy it. 


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five 

Jessie yawned as she shifted, trying to stretch her legs so they wouldn't get cramped; she glanced over at Chris, who was sleeping soundly a few feet from her, leaned against the trunk of a tree just as she was. As tired as she was, she couldn't bring herself to sleep either, feeling content, for the moment, to watch the woods around them for any signs that they were being chased. She had yet to see any, but wasn't getting her hopes up. 

Also, being alone without having to worry about being silent and forcing herself to put one foot in front of the other gave Jessie a chance to think about what had happened lately. All her efforts to save and protect her sister had been for nothing, because Sadie was dead, a reality that was beginning to truly sink in every second she really thought about it. Her precious little sister, the family butterfly, was now dead, decapitated, her corpse still in the hands of her murderers; Jessie couldn't think of anything worse. 

Sighing, she pressed her palms against her face and ran her hands through her tangled, matted hair. She hadn't showered in nearly forty-eight hours and she stunk of sweat and blood, a combination that she had smelled in her nightmares many times when she had dreamt about what had happened in the woods a couple months ago. Now she would have a whole new set of nightmares to experience. 

Jessie pushed herself to her feet and, with a glance at Chris, headed away from where they had been resting. She was too upset, her emotions churning inside of her too roughly for her to be able to sit still any longer; she wouldn't go far enough to get lost, plus it wouldn't hurt to check out the terrain before Chris had to move again. She was worried about him, for he seemed weaker then he had only minutes before they had stopped, and he was bleeding a lot; Jessie prayed they'd get to a hospital in time. She didn't know what she'd do if she lost Chris as well. 

Stepping over a fallen log, she walked slowly through the woods, every so often dragging her fingers across moss cover tree trunks, forever going straight so that she wouldn't get turned around. It wouldn't do her or Chris any good if she got lost in the woods. 

When Jessie got what she judged to be thirty feet away from Chris, she prepared to turn and go back, pausing when a sound she hadn't heard in a while filled her ears. It was a sound that she had heard every day of her life, a sound that one would often not even notice until it was heard somewhere out of place: the sound of car tires driving across asphalt. 

After her ears confirmed that she was truly hearing passing cars, her heart practically leapt into her throat. They were saved! After all their walking, running, after all the fear and death, she and Chris had finally made it out of the woods. Jessie turned and rushed back they way she had come, eager to get to Chris and bring him to the road while cars were still traveling down it; it was roughly an hour away from sunrise, so there really wasn't a possibility that the early rush hour traffic would diminish. 

"Chris!" She shouted when she could see her sleeping boyfriend again. For some reason, she was no longer worried about attracting attention, no longer worried about being quiet. "Chris!" 

At the sound of her voice, Chris began to stir, blinking sleepily up at her. "Jess, what's the matter?" He questioned, looking at her worriedly as he spoke. 

Jessie knelt down in front of him, tugging on his arm with child-like impatience. "Nothing's wrong, I found the road Chris." She told him, unable to keep the relief and happiness from her voice. 

At first, Chris looked surprised, as though he hadn't heard her clearly. Then, suddenly, he brightened. "You found the what....the road?" He said, eyes growing wide with the relief that was coursing through Jessie, who nodded quickly. "Are you sure?" 

"Yes." She assured him, helping him to his feet. "Come on, I want to get the hell out of these woods as soon as possible." She grumbled. 

Following the exact path Jessie had taken only moment before, Chris and his girlfriend managed to break through the thick net of forest foliage and reach the side of the road, which was populated with a handful of cars, headlights still blaring. Leaving Chris' side, Jessie stepped off the shoulder and raised her arms above her head, trying desperately to signal one of the passing cars. 

The first two cars passed by her without even slowly, but the third began to slow down, allowing the driver to a get a better look at the dirt and blood covered brunette hailing her from the side of the road. The middle-aged woman in the driver's side rolled down the passenger window and leaned forward slightly. "Are you all right?" She called out toward Jessie, who limped toward her. 

"No. My brother and I really need to get to a hospital." Jessie explained, hoping that the woman wouldn't suddenly decide she was an axe murderer. "Can you help us?" 

The woman peered past Jessie, looking for Chris, who had begun heading their way; one look at his blood covered shirt and jeans told her all she needed to know. "Of course, get in." She unlocked the locks on the back doors. 

Jessie smiled gratefully and headed toward the back of the car, throwing the door open and turning to face Chris, who offered her a weak smile. "We did it." He muttered weakly, doing his best to not just fall into the back seat of the car. 

Sliding in beside him, Jessie didn't find the need to say anything. 

* * * 

For ten minutes, the woman that had driven in silence, only looking in the rearview mirror at her passengers every so often; the silence and gentle motion of the car had been more then enough to lull Chris off to sleep and he dreamed with his head on his girlfriend's shoulder, unaware of the woods passing along the sides of the road. Jessie found it somewhat amazing, if not ironic, at how quickly the woods vanished when there weren't trees, brush, roots and killer hillbillies to stop one from traveling through them. As she stared at the woman's cup of coffee and half-eaten blueberry muffin, she was reminded of how hungry and thirsty she was, but didn't have the heart to ask the woman that had saved their lives for her breakfast as well. 

Finally, the woman had had enough of the silence and said to Jessie, "What happened to you guys?" She didn't look like she was quite sure she wanted to know, but asked the question nonetheless. 

Jessie thought for a moment about how much to tell the woman before deciding that there was no harm in the truth. "We were chased by these disfigured men; they captured my boyfriend and probably would have killed him if I hadn't gotten there in time." She answered, keeping the woman's gaze as she spoke. 

The woman nodded, gazing at the road before returning Jessie's stare. "Why were you in the woods in the first place? Camping?" It seemed perfectly reasonable to her, after all, that a young couple would be in the woods camping. The killer mountain men, however, was the part that unnerved her the most. 

For a moment, Jessie was silent, tears prickling the corners of her eyes. "No, we were...my little sister, Sadie, had gone camping with her friends and the men had attacked them. She called my boyfriend and I for our help; we went to rescue her." She wasn't quite sure she wanted to share her memories of Sadie with this strange woman, but she owed it to their rescuer to answer her questions. 

The woman's face softened at her words; it didn't take a genius to put two and two together and realize that there was no little sister any longer. "I'm sorry." She muttered, as sympathetically as she could. She had never lost anyone close to her, so she couldn't come up with any more words to say then that. 

Jessie simply nodded and leaned her head against Chris', taking a deep breath and then releasing it in a long sigh. Thankfully, the rest of the ride to the hospital was taken in silence. 

* * * 

When the woman pulled in front of the emergency room entrance of the Lakeview Hospital, Jessie almost regretted waking Chris up; he had suffered through so much, he needed the sleep, but he needed professional care even more. Jessie and the groggy Chris emerged from the woman's car and shut the door behind them. "Are you sure you're going to be all right?" The woman questioned, looking at the brunette as she spoke. 

Jessie nodded. "We will be now." She answered. "Thank you." She was shaking again, this time from a mixture of relief, hunger and the adrenaline that was draining from her body. The woman didn't look so sure but waved nonetheless and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving the couple standing on the sidewalk. 

Slipping her shaking arm around Chris' waist, Jessie helped her boyfriend hobble through the sliding doors and into the hospital; loss of blood, among other things had made him weak and she found it difficult to support him. Jessie managed to drag them both over to the nurses' station, where the plump woman behind the counter looked at them with a mixture of shock and concern. 

"My boyfriend needs help." Jessie told her, though that much was obvious. Chris leaned against the counter for support, staring at the nurse through foggy eyes. "He's been stabbed." 

The nurse looked at Chris, then down at his bloody belly and pants and called out for a doctor. She turned to look at Jessie, who was watching Chris worriedly. "What about you, miss, do you need a doctor?" 

Jessie shook her head. "Just help him, I'm fine." She said, seconds before she fainted into blackness. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Thanks for the reviews, I was getting worried there for a while ;) Glad everyone's liking the story so far, thanks! 


	6. Chapter Six

Of course it's not over yet, all my loyal readers! I couldn't just leave you hanging like that, now could I? 

Chapter Six 

When Jessie awoke, she thought that she was back in the woods, lost among the trees and roots, being chased by the murderous rednecks without Chris by her side. She nearly bolted upright, but managed to get her bearings before jerking upward, feeling soft pillow beneath her head and warm fabric beneath her fingers. An ECG machine was beeping off to her right, diligently monitoring her vitals; an IV dripped fluid through needles in her arms and she was happy that she jerked up, possibly tearing the needles. 

Jessie shifted her gaze and realized just where she was: in the Lakeview Hospital, after having been dropped off by a nameless woman that had picked her and Chris up off the side of the road. The room was she in was empty, stark white, with a plastic blue chair directly across from the bed she lay in; the door was open, allowing doctors easy access and her to ability to gaze into the hallway. For the moment, the hallway was empty, aside from a cart piled with blankets and carts. 

Taking her gaze away from the hallway, Jessie lay her head back against the pillow, enjoying the way it felt against her weary head, and sighed trying to remember what had happened, how she had ended up in a hospital bed when it had been Chris that needed the attention. She remembered going up to the nurse's desk and then nothing else; Jessie decided that it was quite likely that she had passed out from relief, hunger or both. 

Slivers of moonlight escaped through the slits in the plastic window blinds and Jessie was surprised to find that night was well underway; she had been asleep or unconscious for the entire day, yet she didn't feel any more rested then when she had first arrived. 

As she lay in the stark white hospital bed, motionless so not to agitate the IV, she began to wonder about Chris; worry about him was more like, and she wished she could jump out of bed and find him right that second. Certainly he was all right, he was, after all, in a hospital, but that didn't ease the nervousness in Jessie's mind; she wanted to see for herself, to see his blue eyes regain their sparkle. But with the IV in her arm and the other various wires attached to her, she knew that simply climbing out of bed and heading down the hallway wasn't an option; she would have to wait until one of the doctors of nurses showed up. 

Staring up at the black flecked tiles about her head, Jessie let her mind wander to the events back in the woods; for the first time since it had happened, she let herself relieve Sadie's death in detail, though it made her upset all over again. It didn't seem fair to her that, assuming they ever were caught, the men that had murdered her sister and her best friends would never be punished; how many other people had to killed that wouldn't get justice. 

Jessie made up her mind right then that as soon as she got out of the hospital that she would take as many weapons as she could find and simply take justice into her own hands, for lack of a better phrase. She couldn't know then how much she would grow to regret her decision, had no way of knowing what would happen later, for right at that moment it seemed like the perfect plan. She would avenge Sadie and Carly's murders, and keep the killers from continuing to break apart families and ruin lives. 

As she thought about it longer, working out the details in her mind as she counted the specks on the tiles, Jessie decided that she wouldn't take Chris, wouldn't bring him back into the woods. Besides, he would need longer to recover then she, and he would still be in the hospital when she returned to the woods. Going alone was for the best anyway, Chris wouldn't be able to try and stop her, or talk her out of her idea. He hadn't known Carly and the others like she had and Sadie wasn't his sister; he hadn't lost friends and family to the disfigured murderers like she had. Jessie didn't expect him to understand. 

Jessie smiled to herself, inwardly pleased with her plan, and glanced away from the ceiling and out the doorway in time to see a nurse heading past her room. "Excuse me." She called out, hoping to catch the woman's attention. Luckily, the nurse heard her and backtracked, entering the room. 

The nurse smiled pleasantly. "So you're finally awake, Miss Burlingame." She chimed, checking the vitals on the ECG machine. 

Jessie studied the nurse quizzically. "How do you know my name?" She wasn't carrying any ID, she hadn't bothered to grab her wallet before rushing out of her apartment days ago. Had it really been days, because Jessie felt like it had only been hours. 

"Your boyfriend, Chris Flynn, he told us your name after you passed out." The woman explained, poking around the clear bag filled with clear liquid that hung above the brunette's head. "It's a wonder, he was bleeding for more then twenty stab wounds and he still manage help us with you." She smiled, a grandmotherly smile that made her look older then she surely was. 

Jessie couldn't help but smile; the idea of Chris caring for her when he should be more concerned with himself only reminded her of how much she loved him. "How is Chris?" She questioned, looking over at the nurse again. Worry suddenly filled her once more, though she tried to push it away. If something was wrong with Chris, she would already know about it. 

"He's fine, considering everything he's been through; he lost a great deal of blood, plus he's suffering from extreme dehydration and hunger, just as you were." The woman answered, deciding that all of Jessie's medical equipment was running as it should. 

Jessie breathed a sigh of relief. Of course Chris was all right, he was a survivor, she knew that but that still didn't take away her relief at hearing the words for herself. "Thank God." She mumbled to herself. Chris was all she had left, she couldn't bare losing him. 

The nurse smiled once more. "What happened to the two of you? Chris was too weak to explain what happened." She seemed more curious then concerned, like someone pressing the ear against the bedroom door when a fight was taking place on the other side. 

"Can I see Chris?" Jessie asked, ignoring the nurse's question. She sat up slightly, mindful of the IV in her arm, simply to show the woman that she didn't need to be on bed-rest anymore. 

The nurse looked thoughtful before smiling again. "I don't see why five minutes out of bed would hurt, but at the moment, your boyfriend is asleep, has been for some time." She seemed almost regretful for saying this, as though it were her fault that Chris was asleep. 

Jessie frowned slightly. "Can I just see him?" She felt like she hadn't been near Chris in days, instead of hours. Her sense of time had shifted, making some things seem longer then others. Being near Chris would ground her again, help her get back to normal, just as he had after Carly and the others had been killed. She could move on much better after she dealt with the murderers as well. 

"Only a few minutes." The nurse relented after another moment's pause, this time without the smile. She helped Jessie out of bed and wheeled the IV around so that it was beside the brunette, making it easy for her to push along, painlessly. 

Jessie thanked the woman and followed her out of the room, and down the hallway; the nurse was taking her to Chris' room, which was on the floor below the one they were on now, in the ICU ward. All the while, Jessie walked along silently, looking into the rooms of other patients, some of whom weren't as lucky as she was. Finally, she could bare looking no more and instead followed the tiles on the floor. 

The nurse led Jessie to an elevator, gave her Chris' room number and floor and then jetted off to do another duty she had been neglecting. The elevator was empty aside from herself and she watched the doors slid shut with a silent _whoosh_; she had always been unnerved by elevators, ever since Carly had told her an old campfire tale about one when they were younger. Thinking about Carly on made Jessie's nerve for carrying on her Plan (which was how it was now known in her mind) more solid and she had convinced herself to really go through with it when she arrived at Chris' floor. 

The ICU ward was much silent then any of the other hallways she had been in and a shiver escaped down her spine. She knew why it was so silent, but she wouldn't admit that to herself; admitting that this was the ward between life and death would mean admitting that Chris wasn't out of the woods, so to speak, yet. Jessie pushed her metal IV tube along, her bare feet moving soundlessly across the cool tile (she wondered where her shoes and clothes were) as she headed down the hallway, looking for Chris' room number. No one bothered her as she walked, too busy with other things to care about one lone girl with an IV tube. 

After what seemed like endless walking (her feet had begun to hurt again and she realized that were covered with blisters) Jessie finally found Chris' room, near the end of the hallway. He had the room to himself, not that he was aware of this fact, as he was sleeping peacefully with an IV in one hand and a needle feeding blood in the other. The ECG machine at his side beeped rhythmically, which was a comfort to Jessie as she slowly dragged a chair beside his bed. 

Silently, Jessie touched his cheek with her fingers, which were no longer shaking, and took even more comfort in the fact that they were warm. His entire torso was covered in white bandages, some places were crimson where blood at leaked through and she did her best not to look at them, pulling the white sheet up to his shoulders. Jessie took his hand and interlocked their fingers. 

"So, Chris, you'd best get better and be here when I get back." She whispered, leaning close to him as though she was worried that someone would overhear. "I love you." She kissed him gently, his lips still slightly cold. She wanted to say more, almost wanted to tell him about her Plan but couldn't bring herself to do it. 

Jessie spotted a bare pad of paper on the table beside the bed and, after hunting around for a pen, wrote Chris a short message that he would read when she was back in the woods, doing what had to be done. After the message had been written, folded and tucked beneath his hand, which was still warm from her touch, Jessie kissed him one last time and stood again. Careful not to tangle her IV, she returned to the chair to its place and, with a final look at her boyfriend, left the room. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Sorry for the long delay, my loyal readers, I've been busy with school work and I've been recovering from some sort of flu-like illness. Regardless of all these things, here's the next chapter, thanks for the reviews. Enjoy! 

Chapter Seven 

Jessie headed back to the hospital room she had slept the day away in, moving much quicker this time, and searched around for her clothes and shoes, all the while dragging along the metal pole dangling her IV bag. She didn't know just how she was going to get rid of it, but she did know that she couldn't take it into the woods with her; so, for the time being, the pole was pushed along as she bustled about the room, searching for her things. Jessie finally found her clothes, washed and folded neatly, in the metal cabinet near the entrance of the room; her tennis shoes were sitting beside them, worn and dirt coated, just as they had been before she had arrived at the hospital. 

Jessie gently pulled on her pants, deciding to start there since she had no idea how to get her shirt over and around her IV tubes, and bent down to pull on her tennis shoes. She was hopping around on one foot, hoping to balance herself, as she pulled on one shoe, stumbling and crashing to the ground, yanking on the needles in her arm in the process. She cried out sharply, eyes welling with tears, as she looked down at her arm, which had begun to bleed lightly from two torn puncture marks. Jessie pressed her arm against the stark white bedsheets in hopes of stopping the flow before it got too bad, and hoped that her cries hadn't roused any nurses. 

She sat with her arm against the sheets, watching the door frame closely for at least ten minutes before she decided no one had thought much about her cry. Jessie figured people shouted out in hospitals all the time. Slowly, she finished dressing herself and tied the laces on her shoes, righting herself and checking her arm. Though the wound looked painful, it was no longer bleeding and Jessie figured that meant that it was nothing serious. 

Jessie peaked out into the hallway, found it empty and headed out of the bedroom, with as much composure and calmness that she had when she was going to visit Chris; like earlier, no one gave her a second glance and she managed to make it to the waiting room and into the parking lot without being stopped once. However, now she was out of the hospital, she was faced with yet another problem, well two actually; first off, she didn't have any weapons to use against the rednecks and she didn't have a way to get back to the woods. Jessie had no idea how far she was from the woods but she guessed she was a couple of miles, something she wasn't looking forward to walking; yet she didn't have any money, any transportation, not even a cell phone. 

Jessie wandered into the parking lot, arm and feet throbbing and thought about how she was going to carry out her plan. She was about to give up all together and wait until Chris was well enough to leave the hospital when she stopped, staring at a powder blue Cadillac sitting in the space closest to the door. Her older brother had had a Cadillac once upon a time and one day, during the summer when they were both waiting for school to start up again, he had shown her how to hot wire a car; Jessie had never questioned just why he knew how to do such a thing but she had watched and learned and still remembered which wires went where and how not to electrocute yourself and blow the car up. 

And now, it seemed to her that hot wiring some stranger's car and using it to get to the woods was the only option that she had. Not that Jessie was too keen on committing grand theft auto but she was more interested in repaying the murderous mountain men for what they had done to her sister and friends. Glancing both ways, she slipped toward the Cadillac and managed to jimmy the door open, slipping inside and pulling it shut gently behind her; she slid down so that her back was resting against the back of the driver's seat and pulled off the plastic piece that held all the car's wires in place. 

A gaggle of red, blue and yellow wires tumbled down in tangled and messy jumble that through Jessie for a loop for a moment and she worried that she really didn't remember how to hot wire a car after all. _It's easier then it looks, _she reminded herself, _it's the only thing that actually _is _easy. _

Picking up a red wire, she stripped the plastic coating off, exposing the copper wires underneath and did the same with a blue wire; Jessie tied the copper of the wires together and the engine gave a tiny rumble. The yellow wire was the remaining piece she would need, but it was the trickiest part, since there were more yellow wires then any other color flowing from the tangle. After hunting around for much longer then necessary, as far as she was concerned, Jessie finally located the wire that she figured was the one she was looking for and peeled the plastic from it. She touched the ends of the copper wire to the tied together wire and felt a pulse of relief when the car sparked to life. She tied the yellow wire to the other two and the car continued to rumble, idling as it waited to be put into gear. 

Jessie lifted her head and sat up, pulling her seatbelt around her and putting the car in reverse, backing out of the space, heading out of the parking lot. She didn't allow herself to look back at the hospital, didn't want to think about leaving Chris but she didn't expect him to understand. This was something she had to do and she would be back, after all. 

* * * 

Jessie allowed herself to drive in complete silence for a good ten minutes before she began to think about the remaining part of her problem: getting a weapon to take against the disfigured rednecks. While idling at a red light, she rummaged through the Cadillac's glove box and was shocked to discover that the car belonged to an off-duty police officer who, by law, was required to carry his firearm with him at all times. The gun was in its leather holster, nearly a full round in the chambers, waiting for its registered owner to return.

Though Jessie was thankful for the strange sort of luck she was having, she also knew that, having stolen a police officer's car, she would be easier to track and now a felon. As if skipping out on the hospital bill wasn't enough... 

_ Too late to turn back now, _Jessie reminded herself, not that turning back had ever been an option. She continued the way the woman had taken when she had brought them to the hospital, the night deepening and leaving her with a strange sense of loneliness; there were almost no other cars on the road and the glowing lights of the stores open all day and night winked as she passed them. Jessie wished that Chris was with her now, just simply to be beside her and make her feel not as alone as she knew that was.

It was at that moment that she first began to have second thoughts about what she was doing, wondering if she was doing to the right thing, and if she would, indeed, make it back to see Chris like she had promised in her note. What if she couldn't get a shot off before the mountain men did? She had never fired a gun before, so that was quite possible. What if she really was walking into a suicide mission, what if she ended up as dead as Sadie, Carly and the others? Jessie didn't want to think about the possible answers to those haunting questions and she pushed them from her mind easy enough as she watched the neon signs pass behind her head, the area tapering off slowly, leading toward the highway. 

Jessie turned on the radio, hoping that lack of silence would keep her from thinking the morbid, yet strangely true, thoughts that swirled around in her mind. She was almost startled when an 80's classic blared through the speakers, complete with pounding bass and screeching guitar rifts. 

"_I'm on a highway to Hell, highway to Hell. I'm on a...." _

"Great." Jessie mumbled under her breath, changing the radio station. 

* * * 

The highway was more populated then the roads inside the city, with hundreds of head and tail lights blaring in the darkness. Jessie didn't know just how she was going to find the exact spot where she needed to pull over in the dark and not get hit in the process. She would simply have to guess, because there was no real way to tell just where she was anymore, there were no signs, to markings, at least not that she could see in the blackness. 

Finally, she had gotten tired of driving and decided that wherever she was as good as it was going to get and did an illegal U-turn to get to the other side of the highway. A few car horns blared indignantly but Jessie didn't really pay them any attention, no body had gotten hurt so she didn't feel the need to apologize to the drivers she had startled enough to keep them from falling asleep. 

Jessie guided the Cadillac over to the gravel shoulder and left the head lights on so that no one would crash into the abandoned car and leave a traffic accident behind them. She took the gun off the passenger seat where it had rested since she had discovered it and slipped from the car, wishing that she had a flashlight to use to penetrate the blackness that hung around the woods. 

Staring at the thick net of trees once again, she froze and stood on the shoulder for a long while before she could work up the nerve to leave the car behind and head into the woods once more. This time she had a weapon and the element of surprise. Jessie convinced herself that she had the upper hand, though she really didn't believe what her brain was telling her. 

* * * 

In the darkness, it didn't take Jessie long enough to get her herself turned around and lost, stumbling over roots and knocking into trees. Unable to walk any more, she dropped to her knees and pressed her forehead against the pine needles beneath her, taking a deep breath to steady herself; she didn't think she could continue without Chris to push her along. Jessie didn't know how long she lay on the ground, eyes squeezed tightly with her hand on the hilt of the gun, but when she opened her eyes again, the sun was beginning to rise and the shadows were slinking back off to their hiding places for another day. 

Jessie lifted her head and looked around her, trying to see if she could recognize anything in the growing light. She didn't see anything she knew but she heard a familiar sound: the sound of water running through a stream, gurgling over rocks, heading toward a larger body of water. The only stream she had come across during her wanderings through the woods had been around the new cabin that the murderous hillbillies had taken up residence in and she hoped she had stumbled upon the same stream. Getting to her feet, she tightened her grip on the pistol and headed in the direction of the stream, feeling weary and beaten once again. 

The stream she had heard was indeed the same one from before and Jessie almost ran into the cabins walls without even realizing it. From where she stood, but the back windows, she could hear several wordless grunts coming from inside the cabin, and almost lost her nerve once again, all her previous worries suddenly rushing back to her in full force. This was not something to be taken lightly (though she had no intention of taking it that way), this was life or death. 

Jessie crept around to the front of the cabin, figuring that her best bet would simply be to bust through the front door and start firing bullets. She was bound to hit something that way. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself, evening her heart beat and holding the gun ready, just as she had seen the officers from _Law and Order _do right before they prepared to bust down a criminal's door. Though Jessie had no intention of kicking the door open as dramatically as the officers on the show did, it still made her feel a little bit better to seem prepared. 

Without wasting anymore time, she reached for the door knob, threw the front door open and stood in the foyer, pulling the trigger. Jessie was surprised that nothing happened when her yanked down the metal trigger, no bullet was fired, the gun remaining silent in her hand. That was when she realized that the safety was on.

Before she could flick the safety off, the mountain men, whom had been surprised by her arrival, reacted; the bulky man snatched up the club she had left behind earlier and cracked it across the back of her skull. Jessie dropped the gun and crumpled to the ground, everything turning black before she hit the floor. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Chris awoke with such a start that he caused the nurse that was checking the printouts on his ECG machine to jump in surprise. He bolted upright in the white hospital bed, no paying any attention to the various tubes protruding from his arms and scanned the room intently, confused yet aware, looking for the woman that had haunted his dreams for the past hours. Chris found himself alone in the room aside from the nurse, who was studying him with a strange expression on her face; Jessie was no where to be seen, which did nothing to ease his troubled mind. Though he knew that she was in good hands, he had seen to that before he let the doctors take him to the emergency wing of the hospital, that knowledge didn't make him feel any better, didn't release the tension and worry that his latest spring of nightmares had pressed upon him. He dreamed that he and Jessie were back in the woods but they had somewhere become separated and she had been taken again.... 

"Sir, are you all right?" The nurse's words brought Chris out of his reverie and caused him to look over at her. That was when he noticed the various instruments he had been hooked up to and the bandages covering his stomach and lower torso, which had begun to throb again. 

He leaned back against the sea of pillows he had been resting upon and sighed. "I'm fine." Chris muttered and on second thought added, "Do you if there's a Jessica Burlingame in any of the rooms in the hospital?" 

The nurse studied him blankly for a moment before saying, "I'll have to check, is she a relative of yours?" She looked doubtful but asked anyway. 

Chris considered for a moment. "Yes, she's my cousin." He knew they wouldn't check if they didn't share blood, he had learned that much in pre-med school. The nurse lingered for a moment before retreating out of the room either to check up on his request or to push it off and go about her other duties. 

It was then that he felt something beneath his right hand other then the coarse bedsheets. Curious, Chris picked up the object and found that it was a folded sheet of paper; even before opening the folded note, he could see the familiar handwriting scratched against the paper. A cold pit of dread begun to sneak its way into his stomach. 

_Dear Chris- _

I don't really know where to start with this note so I'm just going to get to the point; by the time you read this, I might all ready be back, who knows? I had to go back to the woods, Chris... I don't really expect you to understand but I had to. You're probably furious at me, or worried for me, but you don't need to be, this time I know what I'm doing. If I'm not already back by the time you read this -who knows how long it'll be before you wake up- I'll be back soon.

Love always, Jess 

Chris read the note twice before letting it flutter onto his chest; for a long time he could do nothing but stare at the blank wall in front of him, trying to collect his thoughts, to process what he had read. A part of him willed the words to be all a misunderstanding, that they weren't true after all but he knew that everything that he read was the truth. He could tell by the way Jessie's handwriting wasn't as even as it usually was that she was going to go through with her plan, even though she was scared but whatever was driving her back into the woods overrode her fear. It was almost as though, as she had been writing the last couple words of the letter, she hadn't even been sure she was making a promise. 

After his disbelief passed, Chris found himself filled with anger, that was driven more by fear for the woman he loved more then anything else. How could she be so stupid? How could she be stupid enough to go back and face the men that had killed so many people alone, without anything more then the tattered shoes on her feet and sweat-stained clothes she had on her back? Why hadn't she waited for him? Why had she gone alone? 

_ I don't really expect you understand, but I had to,_ Jessie's note had read and he realized she was right. He didn't understand and he would have done everything in his power to keep her from leaving his side ever again, especially to embark on such a foolhardy mission. 

Chris pressed the note against his chest and closed his eyes deeply, praying that he would see Jessie again. 

* * * 

The back of Jessie's head felt hot and sticky when she woke and she moved her hands to touch it with her fingers, but a sharp pain bit into her wrists when she tried to do so. That was when she became fully awake and fully aware of just where she was; she was tied with barbed wire to the bed frame in the woodsy cabin just like Chris had been hours earlier. The room was still bathed in shadows but she could tell she was alone, aside from the assortment of rusted and rotted furniture but Jessie was too dizzy to fully comprehend that fact. 

Groaning, she leaned herself back as far as she could possibly go, until her back was resting against the dusty ground, while her shoulders and head were held up by the wire. The last thing she remembered was discovering that the safety on the police officer's gun was on and that she wasn't able to defend herself from the murderous mountain men, whom had no doubt knocked her unconscious and tied her up. Her brilliant had gone down the tubes faster then she could even blink and here she was, in a mess that she had no way of getting out of. _How can I get out? _Jessie questioned herself, angry at her blunder. _Chris is in the hospital and no one knows where to look for me. I'm going to die. _Though she had thought those last words many times in the past hours, this time they seemed much more realistic; this time, it seemed more possible then she was going to die then she wasn't. 

"Stupid." Jessie grumbled to herself, trying to take her mind off the pounding pain in the back of her head. Why had she gone without waiting for Chris? _Maybe _he would have understood. Maybe she should have just gone to the police. 

Jessie let her eyes roam across the room, trying to find anything she could use to advantage. Her eyes settle on something that made her coil up in shock and revolution, two emotions that she had never expected to experience when seeing her little sister. However, she couldn't help herself from experiencing a wave of nausea at the sight of her sister's headless corpse, which lay only feet across from her, the head laying off to one side of the body. Jessie squeezed her eyes shut tightly and turned her head away, unable to feel anything but the sensation that she was going to throw up. One of her sister's eyes had gone missing. 

* * * 

Chris looked toward the doorway when the nurse reentered, already knowing what she was going to say before she opened her mouth to speak. Jessie was gone, this was not new knowledge. "I'm sorry, sir, Jessica Burlingame has left the hospital; one of the nurses is looking for her right now but it appears that she's simply vanished. Her clothes are gone and her room is empty." She informed him. 

With a sigh, Chris nodded his head and rested it upon the pillows behind him; all he could think about was Jessie, and how he could get to her. "Miss, I really need to check out now. I think I'm well enough to go back to my own house." He knew it wasn't going to work, but it was worth a try anyway. Jessie had pulled a jailbreak, he was going to have to pull one too; however, he knew he wasn't strong enough to even stand on his own two feet at the moment. 

The nurse actually managed to chuckle at his remark. "I don't think so, Mr. Flynn, you're still too weak from loss of blood to go anywhere." She shook her head and headed out of the room once again. 

"Jessie," Chris mumbled to the empty room. "Hold on." 


End file.
